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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403849">On the Path to Trust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchScribbler/pseuds/FrenchScribbler'>FrenchScribbler</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How the lettuce family got bigger [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Time Skip, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Slow Burn, no beta we die like Glenn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:34:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403849</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchScribbler/pseuds/FrenchScribbler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There's this new professor at the Academy and Seteth, the archbishop's number two, doesn't trust this stranger they know nothing about. So he's decided to keep an eye on her. But isn't he watching her *too* much?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>My Unit | Byleth &amp; Seteth, My Unit | Byleth/Seteth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>How the lettuce family got bigger [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1762282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On the Path to Trust</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The beginning is slow. I tried to do it without but I couldn't. But don't worry, things will get interesting soon.</p><p>It's the first time I write in English so I hope I didn't make too many mistakes.</p><p>And I love reading comments ♥</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Since Seteth had laid eyes on Jeralt and his daughter, he had been particularly cautious. Rhea was confident as she hired them both; the former as a Knight of Seiros, of which he had been the Captain two decades ago, and the latter as a professor at the Academy. An idea he had found rather preposterous because of her lack of experience and her closeness in age to the students. He didn’t know her age but she certainly looked around twenty years old. As a mercenary trained under her illustrious father, she was well versed in war and strategy and the house leaders could attest of her ability in combat since she had saved them. However, he thought that something about her was… unsettling. Her face bore no expression and her eyes looked empty.</p><p>He knew Rhea as a good judge of character but she insisted in having this young woman among them to teach the future generation of leaders of Fódlan. He prayed her to be cautious but the archbishop, though wise, was a stubborn woman who had the habit of following her own plans. Seteth assisted her in many things in Garreg Mach but she would sometimes leave him in the dark about things she deemed personal.</p><p>As a former Captain of the Knights of Seiros with an exemplary reputation as a mercenary throughout the years, it was kind of easier to have faith in Jeralt. He had saved Rhea’s life in the past and they had become friends. But Seteth didn’t know his daughter, and he therefore couldn’t trust her. That’s why he had decided to observe her for a time, so she could make him change his mind.</p><p>When he interrogated her about herself, she looked unable to answer his questions in a precise way. The only thing she was sure of was her name. Byleth. But she couldn’t say how long she had been a mercenary or even her own age. Apparently, Jeralt didn’t know his own age either, as if time was of no importance to the both of them.</p><p> </p><p>Byleth was in charge of the Blue Lions house, which was full of promising students from all of Faerghus. Though they were polite, the students spoke to her with no formality, which was something Seteth frowned upon because she was close in age to them and it was better to establish a difference so they wouldn’t see her as a mere friend.</p><p>In the following days, his eyes had followed her every time she had been in sight while he was walking around the Monastery.</p><p> </p><p>Seteth sighed when he saw that skirt chaser of a Gautier boy openly flirting with her. He was about to walk in their direction to intervene when he realized Byleth looked unreceptive to the young man’s attempt. The latter seemed surprised to see no reaction at all and quickly ended up joking pleasantly about his failure.</p><p>He had also seen her at the Cathedral with Mercedes, a very devout student of the Blue Lions. Seteth had been very surprised to learn that Byleth knew next to nothing about the Church of Seiros and its traditions. It was quite uncanny for someone who had lived in Fódlan all her life. With her gentle voice, Mercedes told her professor about the Goddess, the Saints and some of the fundamental rites of the Church. Byleth listened attentively but her faced still showed no emotion.</p><p>After the mock battle against the other houses, he found the Blue Lions celebrating their victory at the cafeteria. They even had invited Byleth to celebrate with them but she didn’t look like someone who was having fun. Everyone was smiling and laughing around her but her face remained as it had ever been since their meeting. Or <em>ever</em>, according to Jeralt who had explained his daughter had difficulties expressing her feelings. <em>Difficulties</em> was an understatement, but Jeralt didn’t seem inclined to talk more about it.</p><p>Even Flayn seemed taken by her and had been so since the day Byleth had caught her a fish she wanted very much to eat that day, though it was supposed to be an offering to Saint Cethleann at first. Seteth was worried. His dearest sister was too naïve, too trusting. He, on the contrary, was very cautious and didn’t trust people easily. His top priority was to protect Flayn, the most important person in his life. He felt uneasy every time she mentioned the professor. Telling her all the time to be more careful seemed useless because she was everything but so in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>However, she wasn’t such an airhead as she seemed to be, for she was the first one to notice that her dear brother couldn’t take his eyes off Byleth every time she was around.</p><p>“Where did you get such an idea, Flayn?” he asked while putting his fork in his plate. The cafeteria was crowded at lunch, nobody could hear their conversation among all the clattering of cutlery and the buzzing of dozens of simultaneous conversations.</p><p>“Well, you’re always looking at her in quite a persisting way and you don’t do it with anybody else,” she said, taking delight in her fish with a beaming face. “I can’t say I’m surprised since she’s a beautiful woman.”</p><p>Seteth couldn’t help but choke on his glass of water. What was she thinking? First, he wasn’t looking at her that much. Or was he? No, Flayn was exaggerating. And Byleth, being beautiful? It had never crossed his mind. After all, the reason why he was keeping an eye on her was to determine if she could really be trusted and because she was a rookie teacher in a prestigious Academy attended by the children of the nobility from all of Fódlan. This position wasn’t to be taken lightly. The reputation of the archbishop who had hired her was at stake. All those arguments sounded solid but, somehow, they couldn’t cross his lips and he only cleared his throat before finishing his meal.</p><p>Flayn’s misunderstanding had to be cleared but duty was already calling him and he decided to have this conversation later.</p><p> </p><p>As he was working in his office in the afternoon, he could hear Professor Hanneman grumbling about something. They had neighboring offices and were both in the habit of leaving their door wide open for any student or staff member to consult them. Seteth was used to hearing the scholar whenever he was about to make a new discovery about Crests. Since he had met Byleth, Hanneman was particularly focused in the study of her Crest since he had been unable to identify it with his device. The old man was convinced he was to discover a new Crest and was therefore very excited. At least, he had momentarily stopped pestering Seteth about his Crest or his sister’s.</p><p>Still, Seteth was intrigued about Byleth’s Crest too. After a millennium, it was rather odd to find a brand-new Crest, moreover on a stranger who was unable to give any valuable information about her lineage. Rhea might have known more about it but he wondered if she would tell him.</p><p>He was still thinking about what Flayn had implied at lunch, about the reason that made his gaze follow Byleth whenever he saw her, when he actually saw her walking in the corridor to join her father in the opposite office. His surprise made him drop his quill which stained an accounting document with a bit of ink. He could hear father and daughter conversing while he was trying to fix his blunder. Though he could hear some fatherly kindness from the surly Jeralt, Byleth sounded somewhat factual, as emotionless as she had ever been.</p><p>Seteth raised his head when Byleth left her father’s office and their gaze met. Stunned, he opened his mouth but no sound came of it. They just stared at each other for a few seconds that felt like an eternity. Then, she bowed politely and walked toward the stairs. What had just happened? He was unable to tell. It was like his brain had ceased to function.</p><p>And for the first time in many years, he felt incredibly stupid.</p>
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